Jen Meredith only wants three things. Anonymity, safety from her family, and the freedom to make the laws of physics cry in the corner. Her new life as a freelance mad scientist ticks every one of her boxes, and she'd be happy to be left alone. Unfortunately, it only takes one encounter with a figure from her past to bring it all crashing down around her. Adrian Raikov hasn't had anything he cares enough about to call home in years. Bouncing from cheap motel to cheap motel, going where Uncle Sam needs him to, doing what they tell him, all for the greater good. One run-in with a friend he'd buried long ago makes him question what any of it is good for. Neither of them are the heroes Chicago asked for. Together, they might just be the heroes it needs.